MC cracks whip on encroachers

Cracking the whip against encroachers, the municipal corporation authorities razed nearly 50 illegal structures on the Sirhind-Patiala highway for widening the road here on Tuesday.

Following the directions of the Punjab and Haryana high court, the municipal corporation launched the operation on Tuesday and demolished illegal constructions, mainly shops on the Sirhind-Rajpura bypass road.

The squad conducted the drive in the presence of the police force and a team of doctors and fire brigade officials. A duty magistrate was also appointed by the district administration to take on-the-spot decision, if any unruly scene took place at the demolition site.

Municipal town planner Nirmal Preet Singh said they conducted the demolition drive after giving prior notice to illegal construction owners.

"More illegal construction will be demolished in the coming days on the order of the high court to clear 100 m peripheral area on both sides from the centre of the road," he added.

The Punjab and Haryana high court had issued a notice five months ago that no construction could be done on the 100-m area from the centre along both sides of the road and ordered the district authorities to demolish the already constructed buildings and complexes.

"We have planned to carry out the drive demolishing 10 to 15 buildings per day and hope that the shopkeepers will themselves remove their illegal buildings," said the municipal town planner.

All roads, including Nabha Road, Sirhind Road, Rajpura Road, Sirhind-Rajpura bypass and Sangrur Road, have to be cleared of all illegal encroachments, read the high court order.